Dangerous, but not for everyone
The acid contained in palm oil accelerated the spread of cancer cells
Maria Azarova, Naked Science
Palmitic acid contained in palm oil contributes to metastasis in oral carcinoma and melanoma, said scientists from the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (Spain), the University of Miami, the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of California (USA). Their study is published in the journal Nature (Pascual et al., Dietary palmitic acid promotes a prometastatic memory via Schwann cells).
Metastasis — the formation of secondary tumor malignant foci due to the spread of mutated cells of the primary tumor - remains the main cause of death of cancer patients, since cancer at this stage can usually no longer be defeated. It is known that fatty acids — the "building blocks" of fat in our body and food — can help metastases, but it remained unclear how and why this happens.
The authors of the new work tested several fatty acids, including palmitic, oleic, linoleic. They were added to the diet of mice with oral carcinoma and melanoma, in addition, the tumor cells themselves were exposed to acids in vitro. As the results showed, none of the tested fatty acids increased the risk of developing cancer, but it was palmitic acid that helped metastasis and had a long-term effect on the genome.
Cancer cells remained highly metastatic even after rodents stopped being fed food rich in palmitic acid. According to scientists, such "prometastatic memory" is caused by changes in genes that affect the function of metastatic cells and help them form a neural network around the tumor in order to "communicate" with the nearest cells and spread more easily.
The authors of the work proposed a way to block this "communication" — antibodies from ONA Therapeutics aimed at cells that cause metastases in cancer. Trials should begin in the coming years.
"It's too early to determine what type of diet patients with metastatic cancer need to slow down the process. Nevertheless, based on our results, it can be assumed that a diet “poor” in palmitic acid should be effective. <...> But we are not concentrating on this line of research, instead we have focused on new therapeutic goals," said Professor Salvador Aznar—Benita, lead author of the study.
Palm oil is obtained from the fruits of the oil palm growing in the tropics, and is used mainly for the production of food, detergents, cosmetics and biofuels. More than half of all products consumed by Americans contain palm oil. And it is also associated with mass deforestation, human rights violations and the destruction of the habitat of orangutans, elephants and rhinos.
In Indonesia and Malaysia, which produce about 85% of the world's total palm oil, over 16 million hectares of land — rainforests, peat bogs and old rubber plantations — are occupied by oil palms. And there are no signs of this industry fading away. This is because palm oil is extremely cheap, because the African oil palm produces ten times more vegetable product than, for example, soy.
However, the controversy is caused not only by the production of oil, but also by its potential harm to health. On the one hand, palm oil is rich in antioxidants, including vitamin E, which is important for maintaining the immune system, can reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and age-related macular degeneration.
While some studies show that palm oil lowers cholesterol, others allow for an increase in the level of "bad" cholesterol. Reheated oil not only loses its beneficial properties for the heart — compared to a fresh product — but also increases the likelihood of heart diseases such as atherosclerosis. In addition, palm oil contains about 34% of saturated fats (in olive oil, for example, less than half), and they are associated, again, with the development of heart diseases and chronic ailments.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru